Biohacking Beauty: The Anti-Aging Skincare Podcast

The melanocytes giving pigment to your skin right now might be older than your car. They have been sitting in your dermis for decades, and unlike the cells on your skin's surface, they do not get replaced. They have to keep themselves clean which happens through autophagy.
In Part 2 of our autophagy deep dive, we get specific about how skin handles autophagy differently from other parts of the body. We unpack why long-lived cells like fibroblasts and melanocytes depend on this cleanup process, what happens when it fails, and how it ties directly to gray hair, hyperpigmentation, sagging skin, and that brownish dullness no serum seems to fix.
We also introduce one of the most overlooked players in this entire conversation, and explain why we believe it is the next NAD. If you want to understand what is actually happening underneath your skin as it ages, and what tools we have to intervene at the cellular level, this episode is for you.
What's Discussed:
(01:06) Why skin needs autophagy more than almost any other organ
(03:07) The cells on your face that may be older than your car
(04:25) The 2013 paper that linked autophagy failure to dermatitis
(08:44) Zombie mitochondria and why photo-aged skin makes bad collagen
(12:25) Senescent cells, SASP, and how a few bad cells poison the dermis
(18:38) The 2019 Drexel rapamycin trial that proved this works in humans
(23:22) The 2024 spermidine study that changes how we think about autophagy
(29:51) Why your skin barrier collapses without this one molecule

Resources Mentioned:
Biohacking Beauty Podcast with Dr. Scott Sherr: Stress & Light on Your Skin Are Aging Your Entire Body Podcast/dr-scott-sherr-stress-light-on-your-skin-are-aging/
2024 Study on endogenous spermidine as essential for rapamycin-induced autophagy and longevity: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39212197/
Young Goose Companion Booklet: younggoose.com/pages/autophagy-skin-activate-your-bodys-anti-aging-system
Find more from Young Goose:
Use code PODCAST10 to get 10% OFF your first purchase, and if you’re a returning customer use the code PODCAST5 to get 5% OFF at younggoose.com
Instagram: @young_goose_skincare

What if your skin could literally rebuild itself from the inside out? In this episode, we break down one of the most powerful and misunderstood biological processes in the human body: autophagy.
From its Nobel Prize-winning discovery to the molecular machinery that drives it, we walk you through exactly what autophagy is, how it works at the cellular level, and why it matters far more than most people realize for skin aging.
We explore the two master switches that control autophagy, mTOR and AMPK, and how the constant tug of war between them determines whether your cells are in build mode or cleanup mode. We also explain why most people in the modern world are stuck in permanent mTOR activation, and what that means for how their skin ages over time.
This is Part 1 of our deep dive. In Part 2, we go skin-specific and break down exactly how autophagy renews your skin at the tissue level.
What's Discussed:
(0:19) The "phoenix process": the cellular mechanism rebuilding your skin from the inside out
(3:14) What autophagy actually means, and why the science world ignored it for 30 years
(4:47) How baker's yeast cracked the code that won the 2016 Nobel Prize
(7:14) Inside a single skin cell: the step-by-step breakdown of how autophagy actually works
(10:22) Why autophagy is not destruction, and what this means for your collagen supplements
(16:44) The two master switches controlling whether your cells build or clean
(20:10) The everyday habit silencing your body's most powerful anti-aging system
(26:17) Why aging skin isn't broken, it has just never been told to clean
Resources Mentioned:
Biohacking Beauty Podcast: Ben Azadi: Why 93% of Americans Are Aging Too Fast + What to Do About It: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ben-azadi
Find more from Young Goose:
Use code PODCAST10 to get 10% OFF your first purchase, and if you’re a returning customer use the code PODCAST5 to get 5% OFF at younggoose.com
Instagram: @young_goose_skincare

Most of what the supplement and skincare industry sells for aging targets one pathway at a time. But your biology does not age that way. It declines across 12 interconnected processes simultaneously, and by the time one of them shows up on your skin, the others have already been running for years.
We at Young Goose believe that skin longevity is not a topical problem. It is a whole biology problem, and the ingredients you choose, how they interact, and whether anyone has actually tested them together matters more than any single molecule ever could.
In this episode, we are joined for the second time around by Chris Mirabile, founder of NOVOS which is the first biotech company to target all 12 biological causes of aging. Chris collaborates with leading researchers at Harvard and MIT and has built his work around one premise: that real interventions require real testing on real humans, not just promising ingredients.
Let's dive in.
What's Discussed:
(2:14) Why single ingredient marketing is a commercial story, not a scientific one.
(9:56) The three hallmarks hitting skin hardest and how they feed each other.
(12:02) How UV damage depletes 90% of NAD in the skin from a single exposure event.
(22:14) Why stacking molecules requires human testing, not just ingredient research.
(33:48) The NOVOS cardiovascular study and results that surprised the researchers.
(48:12) Why spending more on your biology does not make your protocol safe.
(1:02:18) What omics testing reveals that epigenetics alone cannot tell you.
(1:09:45) Where skin longevity is heading in the next five years.

Find more from Young Goose:
Use code PODCAST10 to get 10% OFF your first purchase, and if you’re a returning customer use the code PODCAST5 to get 5% OFF at younggoose.com
Instagram: @young_goose_skincare

Find more from Chris Mirabile & Slow My Age:
Instagram: @slowmyage
YouTube: @slowmyage
TikTok:@slowmyage
X: @slowmyage
Personal Blog: slowmyage.com
Find more from NOVOS:
Website: NOVOSlabs.com
Instagram: @NOVOSlabs
Facebook: NOVOS
Youtube: @NOVOSlabs
TikTok: @NOVOSlabs_
X: @NOVOSLabs

Most of what goes viral on SkinTok is missing one thing. The part where someone actually checks if it works.
In this bonus episode, Amitay and Anastasia break down three of the most viral skincare trends circulating today, red light therapy wands, at-home dermarolling, and tretinoin, and run each one through a biohacker's lens. Not to dismiss them outright. But to ask the questions the original videos never do.
What is actually happening at the cellular level? What are the real risks? And where does the marketing stop and the science start?
What’s Discussed:
(2:03) Why red light therapy wands are closer to a flashlight than a treatment.
(4:26) What photon accumulation actually means and why moving a wand around your face defeats the purpose.
(10:42) Why "sold out" is a marketing claim, not proof that something works.
(14:00) What dermarolling actually does to the skin and where the real risks are.
(15:21) Why elastin claims in skincare are almost always wrong.
(17:06) The difference between at-home dermarolling and professional microneedling.
(19:51) How to use a dermaroller safely if you choose to.
(28:32) Why tretinoin makes skin worse before it gets better and what that actually means.
(32:58) The half-life of vitamin A and why twice a week use barely moves the needle.
(34:06) How retinoids accelerate cellular turnover but also drive senescence.
(35:44) What can counteract the long-term tradeoffs of tretinoin use.

Check out our Mother’s Day Special:
Explore the Mother’s Day gift sets at younggoose.com/pages/mothers-day
Find more from Young Goose:
Use code PODCAST10 to get 10% OFF your first purchase, and if you’re a returning customer use the code PODCAST5 to get 5% OFF at younggoose.com
Instagram: @young_goose_skincare

Mothers sacrifice so much of themselves to carry another human being in their body for nine months. Even after childbirth, there's a phase called the fourth trimester because babies are still heavily dependent on moms for their survival.
Motherhood looks different for every woman. For Anastasia, who is a first-time mom, motherhood looked particularly different since her family is overseas and she's also running Young Goose with Amitay. Yet, there's something unique when a biohacker becomes a mom that new moms can learn from.
In this Young Goose Mother's Day Special, we celebrate every mother who gives selflessly to their family. We also take a peek into Anastasia's life as a new mom, what changed in her body and mindset, and how she maintained her self-care while taking care of the family and the business.
This episode will make you realize that it takes a village to raise a kid, but it takes a great mom to raise a kid and still come back to herself. Because the only way she can show up fully for others is when she can show up for herself first.
What's Discussed:
(3:11) Who Anastasia was before motherhood: the risk-taker who crossed the world.
(6:03) Why Anastasia loves a small circle and how she protects it.
(10:09) Why Anastasia went back to work early, and the regret she wants other new moms to avoid.
(12:00) Why motherhood is the hardest thing she has ever done, more than building a company.
(15:49) How motherhood flipped the dynamic: why the assertive co-CEO becomes the soft parent.
(25:26) Postpartum breakouts, cortisol, and why her skin told the story before anything else did.
(29:25) What her early postpartum self-care actually looked like.
(30:33) The non-negotiables: PEMF mat, lymphatic drainage suit, and red light therapy.
(34:04) Anastasia's postpartum bounce-back stack: spermidine, NAD+, and PC.
(1:58) How a biohacker reconnects with a body that no longer feels like her own.
(4:05) The self-massage course that changed everything.
(5:42) What self-care actually looks like in this season of motherhood.
(10:02) Redefining energy as a mother: capacity, limits, and the cost of burnout.
(16:01) Mindfulness as a skincare tool: why lowering cortisol shows up on your face.
(26:06) The 20-minute practice that can stand in for hours of lost sleep.
(27:45) The 4-7-8 breathing technique for moms who do not have 20 minutes.
(43:28) Advice for new moms who feel self-care is unrealistic in this season.
(43:45) The reframe that changes what self-care means for a new mom forever.

Check out our Mother’s Day Special:
Explore the Mother’s Day gift sets at https://www.younggoose.com/pages/mothers-day
Find more from Young Goose:
Use code PODCAST10 to get 10% OFF your first purchase, and if you’re a returning customer use the code PODCAST5 to get 5% OFF at https://younggoose.com
Instagram: @young_goose_skincare